Zoo Paints Donkey, Tells Visitors It’s A Zebra — Are You Convinced?

A rational answer might include something about natural selection and evolutionary processes. Or, if you’ve visited a zoo in Cairo, Egypt, lately, paint.

The International Garden municipal park has been accused of painting a donkey with black and white stripes, in order to trick visitors into thinking they’re seeing the real thing.

As CNN reports, the trick hasn’t worked out so well. Some zoo guests have noticed the black paint melting off in places around the animal’s head, while the rest of its body doesn’t exactly match up with what most people expect to see in a zebra, either.

Source: Mahmoud SarhanMahmoud Sarhan caught this picture of what seems to be a painted donkey at a zoo in Cairo, Egypt.

Since then, it’s been shared thousands of times, many commenters pointing out the obvious faults in the “artistry.”

Zebras and donkeys are distinctively different species. Zebras have black snouts and are typically larger than donkeys. Zebras are also not typically used for transporting cargo, while many shorter, squatter donkeys have been domesticated for such a purpose.

Matthew Russell is a West Michigan native and with a background in journalism, data analysis, cartography and design thinking. He likes to learn new things and solve old problems whenever possible, and enjoys bicycling, going to the dog park, spending time with his daughter, and coffee.

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